Wire dispenser



Aug. 22, 1967 J. F. BALL 3,337,158

WIRE DISPENSER Filed March 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOf/N FBALL BZWWW ATTORNEY Aug. 22, 1967 J. F. BALL 3,337,158

WIRE DISPENSER Filed March 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z INVENTOR.

/ 8 JOHN F? BALL ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,337,158 WIRE DISPENSERJohn F. Ball, 7005 E. Jackrabbit Road, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85251 FiledMar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,722 9 Claims. (Cl. 242139) My inventionrelates to an improved wire dispenser, and more in particular a wiredispenser adapted to support a relatively large number of spools ofvarious kinds of wire and the like, for dispensing the same as needed.

There are many types of wire and similar strand materials such as lightweight chains, braided wire strands and the like, all of which arevended to the retailer and sometimes to the ultimate user on spools ofvarious size. Such wires will include, for example, various diameterwires of copper, aluminum, iron and other metals, small multiwire cablesof various materials, all of which may be bare or covered with varioustypes of insulation. The number of such materials vended even in arelatively small hardware store, for example, is exceedingly great. Theyare supported for vending in many ways, commonly on a transverse pipesupported at its ends in a stand. Whatever the supporting or vendingmethod used, there is usually little or inadequate provision for keepingthe strands unraveled on the spool, so that time and material arefrequently both lost with the methods now in use. Very commonly,material in stock cannot be located and the time required for vendingsmall lots of wire or the like is not justified by the results obtained.

Accordingly the principal object of my present invention is theprovision of an improved wire dispenser.

Another object is the provision of an improved wire dispenser which isparticularly adapted for use in retail establishments, but which also isof great utility where wire is used in manufacturing operations, andwire of various sizes and type must be made quickly available.

Other specific features will be apparent from the following detaileddescription taken with the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is anisometric view showing the preferred embodiment of the invention whichhas been found to produce exceedingly good results in actual practice;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and showingparticularly the adjustability of one of the wire supporting posts andthe manner in which the transverse spool supporting mandrels are held inplace;

FIG. 3 is a slightly enlarged fragmentary sectional View partly inelevation showing a preferred manner of imparting a braking action tothe individual spools to prevent over-run during the dispensingoperation;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged transverse sectional view taken alongthe line of 44 of FIG. 1 and showing the main supporting plate and someof its appurtenances in full lines;

FIG. 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing apreferred manner of driving the dispenser rotatably for selecting thewire desired;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the top andbottom plate and caster arrangement between the plates to facilitaterotating;

FIG. 7 is a relatively small partly schematic fragmentary elevationalview showing one manner in which house current may be taken from ajunction box to a driving motor forming a part of the dispenser, and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation,showing a modification.

In the embodiment of my present invention shown in the drawings, Iutilize a bottom plate 11 on which the dispenser rests directly on thefloor, a top plate 12 with an annular flange or apron 13, a cover plate14, and two 3,337,158 Patented Aug. 22, 1967 sets of posts 16 and 17,three of each disposed between the top plate 12 and the cover plate 14.The posts 16 and 17 carry a transverse rod 18 and 18' which projectthrough a pair of holes 19, a series of which is provided in the posts.These transverse rods act as mandrels for rotatably supporting the wirespools carrying the wire.

The posts 16 are stationary and may be secured by threading them into asteel pipe coupling 21, which in turn is welded to the top plate 12 at22 as shown particularly in FIG. 5. A similar coupling 21 is secured tothe top of the post 16, and it in turn is welded to the bottom face ofthe cover plate 14. The posts 17 extend at both top and bottom intosmooth interior couplings 23 in which they are adapted to rotate. Thecouplings 23 are welded at 24 to the top plate 12, and cover plate 14respectively, so that the posts 17 are rotatable with respect to suchcouplings but are adapted to be held in a fixed position by a pin 26,one end of which is anchored in position by a short chain 27 held to thetop plate 12 by a special link 28 which is welded to the top face ofplate 12. The pin 26 extends through a pair of oppositely positionedholes in the coupling 23, and is adapted to fit through a plurality ofpairs of oppositely positioned holes in the posts 17 so that the posts17 can be positioned in any one of several axial positions.

All of the transverse rods 18 and 18' may be placed in selected pairs ofholes 19. For convenience, I show in the drawings that the rods 18' aresupported in fixed position. The rods or mandrels 18 in the posts 17,however, are adjustable to any matching pairs of holes 19, and they areheld in any desired position by means of a cap screw 31 threaded intotapped holes in the side of the posts 17 and provided with a suitablehead, preferably an Allen head. In some instances, a large knurled headscrew is adequate for holding the rod in position. While FIG. 1 shows asmaller number of openings for receiving the rods or mandrels 18', suchrods may be secured in position if desired by means of the same capscrew 31 as shown at the left side of FIG. 5.

The cover plate 14 is, of course, secured to the top plate 12 throughthe posts 16 with the flanges of their associated couplings welded tothe plates as already described. I wish to note also that while I show athreaded connection between the coupling 21 and the posts 16, anddescribe that the connection at the top is to be made in the samemanner, any other suitable manner of attachment, such as weldingthroughout without the use of threads can be employed for connection ofall of the posts at top and bottom. Since the entire assembly above thetop plate'12 is connected together, a pair of spaced rings 32 (FIG. 1)may be welded to the top of the cover plate 14 in the manner shown inthe drawing so that the entire assembly can be picked up with a liftingdevice such as a small crane for placement as desired.

For best utilization of the wire dispenser of the present invention, itis desirable that the entire mechanism be made rotatable about thebottom plate 11 which rests on the floor, and also preferably that theentire assembly be capable of drive by means of electric power for bestresults. First, I shall describe the manner in which the top plate 12 issupported in spaced but parallel relation to the bottom plate 11.

Looking now first at FIG. 5, an annular shouldered block 36 is weldedthroughout its periphery as shown at 37 to the top face of the bottomplate 11 centrally thereof. An annular shoulder results from theformation of an upper reduced diameter portion 38 of the block 36. Theentire block has a central vertical bored hole 39 into which the shankof a shouldered screw 41 extends. A headed bushing 42 extends throughthe top plate 12 and is also apertured to receive the maximum diameterportion of shank 43. This shank 43 also has a reduced diameter threadedportion 46 of the block 36, thereby forming a shoulder on which themajor portion 43 of the shank engages. Thus, the entire top plate 12with the bushing 42 is rotatably supported on the top face of thereduced diameter portion 38 of the block 36. Any suitable means (notshown) may be employed to reduce friction between these surfaces butgenerally speaking the friction is reduced to a minimum because of thesupport by the top plate 12 and by means of a plurality of casters aswill be explained.

Six pairs of casters 48 are disposed between top plate 12 and the bottomplate 11. In the form of the invention shown, a pair of such casters isplaced midway between each pair of posts so that there will be six suchsets of casters in all. Three such pairs of casters 48 appear in theFIG. 4 view which is partially broken away. The casters 48 (FIG. 6) aresupported on trunnions 49 carried by a frame with upstanding cars 51which receive the trunnions, and a base 52 which is welded at 53 to thebottom plate 11. The two casters 48 of each pair are aligned along aradius of the wire dispenser, and the several pairs employed preferablydisposed between the posts 16 and 17 in the embodiment of the inventionas shown. It should be understood that the number of posts may vary andthe number of supporting casters may also vary.

While the wire dispenser may be constructed to be rotatedby hand, Iprefer to rotate it electrically by means of a relatively slow speedelectric motor 56 secured to a plate 12 by cap screws 57 and having adownardly projecting shaft 58 carrying a sprocket gear 59 whose hub 61is suitably keyed to shaft 58. A second sprocket gear 62 is welded at 63to the block 36, and a sprocket chain 64- is trained around the twosprocket gears 59 and 62. Thus, energization of motor 56 with consequentrotation of the motor shaft 58 will cause the entire unitary framestructure including the plates 12 and 14 and posts 16 and 17 with theirattached transverse rods forming mandrels for the wire spools to rotateabout the axis of shank 43.

Any suitable means may be employed to carry commercial electrical powerto the motor 56. I indicate one suitable means in FIG. 7 in which a pairof conductors 66 is taken from a suitable junction box (not shown) andpassed on through a conduit 67 to a collector ring assembly indicated bythe reference character 68 and 69. Any suitable collector ring assemblymay be used. By slight modification, I have been able to use a standardLewyt collector No. 2113 successfully. An offset conduit 71 supported byan arm 72 carries a pendant control 73 of a normally open type, butconstructed to close a circuit only while a button control is pressedwith the thumb or finger that the circuit is closed and the motoroperated. Controls of this type are well known and l deem it unnecessaryto show the control in detail. I have, for example, used a No. X-8416-42switch control sold by Graybar Electric Company. Below the collectorrings and below the cover plate 14 is a suitable conduit 74 running tothe motor 56.

I find it essential to apply controlled friction to the wire carryingspools, and I accomplished this result in a very simple manner. Aconventional wire carrying spool 76 may have one end engaged directlyagainst a contiguous post or a friction and spacing washer 77 may beinterposed between the post and spool 76 as shown in FIG. 3. A collar 78has a sliding fit on the rod 18 which acts as a mandrel for the spool76, and a thumb nut 79 axially positioned in the collar 78 can betightened to anchor the collar in any desired position. A coil spring 81which can be placed under such tension as may be desired to limit freerotating of the spool 76 engages against a friction washer 82 which maybe of any suitable material such as the fibrous pressboard materialcommonly known as Masonite. The coil spring 81 may be secured by boththe collar 78 and the friction washer 82 or at neither of them.Suitably, however, I partially flatten the end helixes of the spring 81and secure the spring to the collar and friction washer 32 by welding,brazing, or other conventional attachment methods so that the collar 78,washer 82, and spring 81 will remain together as a unit. Thus, it willbe seen that it requires a little traction on the wire or other strandmaterial to remove it from a spool, and when pulling action is stopped,there is no over-running of the spool and overrunning of the wire suchas will occur with the dispensing means commonly used for wiredispensers.

For simplicity of illustration, I have shown only a small number ofspools on the rods 18 but those skilled in the art will understand thatthe entire unit may be filled With spools, in which case it will befound desirable to rotate the posts 17 to a slightly different positionthan shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. This action is facilitated by thefact that I provide a number of rings 83, one of which may be used foreach spool, if desired, through which wire or other strand material maybe passed as it leaves the spool. Because of this arrangement, thepulling atcion on the strand of wire or the like may be in almost anydirection, and the strand will still be removed properly from the spoolwith the length of strand being dispensed defining more or less astraight line from the ring 83 to a point at which it is being held.This arrangement is particularly advantageous when the wire dispenser ofthe present invention is being used in a factory where parts are beingassembled and more than one person will be withdrawing wire inrelatively short lengths for use in assembly work.

Because of the friction inherent in the driving mechanism described, themachine shown in FIGS. 1-7 will be held adequately at any position towhich it may be adjusted. The machine may be manually rotated, however,and in such use it is usually advisable to provide suitable means forpreventing its turning too freely while strand material is beingdispensed therefrom. It should be understood, of course, that in amanually rotatable machine, friction reducing thrust bearings (notshown) would normally be used to facilitate manual rotation.

Looking at FIG. 8, a suitable anchoring device for a manually rotatedmachine will employ a foot operated indexing and anchoring lever 86pivoted at 87 on a suitable bracket 88 welded to bottom plate 11 andbiased upwardly by spring 89. A notch 91 in the apron 13 of bottom plate12 receives the anchoring lever 86 when it is in raised position to holdthe unit against turning. A notch 91 may be provided at each post, orspaced in any other desired manner depending upon distribution of thespools 7 6. It should be noted that the notches have lead in curvedapproach portions 92 to facilitate engagement by the anchoring lever 86.

I have shown and described a specifically successfully employedembodiment of my invention so that those skilled in the art mayunderstand the manner of using the same. The scope of the invention,however, is defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A wire dispenser of the character and for the purpose described,comprising (a) a bottom support,

(b) a unitary frame structure rotatably carried by said bottom support,and including (1) a main support plate (2) atop cover plate, and

(3) a plurality of radially disposed vertical posts interconnecting saidmain support plate and cover plate,

(c) a plurality of horizontal rod like mandrels for spools of wireextending through and carried by said posts, and

((1) means for controllably applying friction to said spools to preventoverrunning action of said spools when Wire is removed therefrom.

2. A wire dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of saidposts is rotatable about its axis, and

including means for controlling the axial position of said post at aplurality of positions.

3. A wire dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein said frictionsupplying means includes a collar means for supporting said collar infixed position on a mandrel and a coil spring held in compressionbetween said collar and a wire carrying spool.

4. A Wire dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein said frictionsupplying means includes a collar means for supporting said collar infixed position on a mandrel, a friction washer supported on the mandrelagainst a spool, and a coil spring held in compression between saidfriction washer and said collar.

5. A wire dispenser as defined in claim 1 including a ring projectingfrom a post near a spool, whereby to permit Wire being dispensed from aspool to pass through said ring to permit wire being withdrawn from aspool at a relatively acute or obtuse angle with respect to the axis onwhich the wire spool rotates.

6. A Wide dispenser as defined in claim 1, including electrical meansfor rotating said unitary frame structure in response to application ofpressure against a switch member.

7. A Wire dispenser as defined in claim 1 wherein said bottom supportcomprises a base plate, wherein said base plate carries a plurality ofradially disposed casters mounted axial pivots and including a centerpivot around which said top cover plate rotates.

8. A wire dispenser as defined in claim 1, including a center pivotaround which the top cover plate is rotatable, a sprocket gear co-axialwith said pivot carried by the bottom support, an electric motor with avertical shaft carried by said top cover plate, a sprocket gear carriedby the motor shaft in horizontal alignment with said first mentionedsprocket gear, and a sprocket chain trained around said two sprocketgears so that rotation of said motor will cause rotation of said unitaryframe structure.

9. A wire dispenser as defined in claim 1, including means for lockingsaid unitary frame structure at any selected one of a predeterminedradial position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A WIRE DISPENSER OF THE CHARACTER AND FOR THE PURPOSE DESCRIBED,COMPRISING (A) A BOTTOM SUPPORT, (B) A UNITARY FRAME STRUCTURE ROTATABLYCARRIED BY SAID BOTTOM SUPPORT, AND INCLUDING (1) A MAIN SUPPORT PLATE(2) A TOP COVER PLATE, AND (3) A PLURALITY OF RADIALLY DISPOSED VERTICALPOSTS INTERCONNECTING SAID MAIN SUPPORT PLATE AND COVER PLATE,